506 SWITZERLAND, 



spots beneath. In, some parts there is a regular gradation from ex- 

 treme wildness to high cultivation; -in others, the transitions are 

 very abrupt, and very striking. Sometimes a continued chain of cul- 

 tivated mountains, richly clothed with woods, and studded all over 

 with hamlets, cottages abover the clouds, pasturages which appear 

 suspended in the air, exhibit the most delightful landscapes that can 

 be conceived ; and in other places appear rugged rocks, cataracts, and 

 mountains of a prodigious height covered with ice and snow. 



Vegetables and animals. ...Switzerland produces wheat, barley, 

 oats, rye, flax, and hemp; plenty of apples, pears, grapes, which 

 afford an excellent wine, nuts, cherries, plums, and chesnuts ; the 

 parts towards Italy abound in peaches, almonds, figs, citrons, and 

 pomegranates; and most of the cantons abound in timber. Besides 

 game, fish, and fowl, are also found, in some of the higher and more 

 inaccessible parts of the Alps, the bouquetin and the chemois, whose 

 activity in scouring along the steep and craggy rocks, and in leaping 

 over the precipices, is hardly conceivable. The blood of both of these 

 animals is of so hot a nature, that the inhabitants of some of these 

 mountains, who are subject to pleurisies, take a few drops of it, 

 mixed with water, as a remedy for that disorder. The flesh of the 

 chamois is esteemed very delicious. Among the Alps is likewise 

 found a species of hares, which in summer are said perfectly to re- 

 semble other hares, but in winter become all over white, so that they 

 are scarcely distinguishable among the snow. But this idea has been 

 lately exploded, nor is it certain whether the two species ever couple 

 together. The white hare seldom quits his rocky residence. Here 

 are also yellow and white foxes, which in winter sometimes come 

 down into the vallies. 



. Curiosities, natural and artificial. ..Every part of Switzer- 

 land abounds in natural curiosities ; continually presenting precipices, 

 glaciers, torrents, and cataracts. The glaciers are immense fields of 

 ice, which usually rest on an inclined plane : being pushed forwards 

 by the pressure of their own weight, and but weakly supported by the 

 rugged rocks beneath, they are intersected by large transverse crevi- 

 ces, and present the appearance of walls, pyramids, and other fantas- 

 tic shapes, observed at all heights and in all situations, wherever the 

 declivity is beyond thirty or forty degrees. 



Mr. Coxe thus describes the method of travelling over these 

 glaciers. "We had each of us a long pole spiked with iron; and in 

 order to secure us as much as possible from slipping, the guides 

 fastened to our shoes crampons, or small bars of iron, provided with 

 four small spikes oi the same metal. At other times, instead of 

 crampons, we had large nails in our shoes, which more effectually 

 answered our purpose. The difficulty of crossing these vallies of ice 

 arises from the immense chasms. We rolled down large stones 

 into several of them ; and the great length of time before they 

 reached the bottom gave us some conception of their depth ; our 

 guides assured us, that in some places they are not less than five 

 hundred feet deep. I can no otherwise convey to you an image of 

 this body of ice broken into irregular ridges and deep chasms, than 

 by comparing it to a lake instantaneously frozen in the midst of a 

 violent storm." In speaking of an unsuccessful attempt of some 

 gentlemen to reach the summit of Mont Blanc, he presents to his 

 readers a most horrid image of the danger of these chasms. "As, 



